Several people here on the Gay & Lesbian Forum have expressed an interest in what it's like to have a Disney Fairy Tale Wedding . . . er . . . Commitment Ceremony.

Well, we had our planning session and menu tasting with Disney yesterday, and thought I'd let you all know how it went.

For those of you who don't know how the process with DFTW works: You book your venues either a year or eight months in advance (depends on which locations you want), you put down a deposit and sign the contract. At that point, you're assigned a wedding planner. At the six-month mark, you set up a planning session with your wedding planner and sit down with the Disney folks and plan out all the details (Or as many as possible). The planning session can be done in person or over the phone. If you are able to do the planning session, it takes place in Franck's Wedding Studio and you get to do a cake tasting and a menu tasting.

That's what we did yesterday. The planning session and tastings.

Things went VERY well with our planning session yesterday. I'll go into detail and include pictures (food porn) in the next post.

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Okay, first off I have to say that I'm terribly impressed with how well Disney handles this process. They make it VERY easy, and as low-stress as it can possibly be. It helped that our wedding planner was a blast to deal with. She made it fun, and comfortable.

As for the fact that we're two gay men, you'd think that they deal with commitment ceremonies every day, all day long. They all acted like they were genuinely happy for us and honored to be a part of our big day. This goes a LONG way toward justifying the cost in our book.

We arrived (accompanied by my mom) at the wedding studio at a bit before our 9 am start time, and wandered around the room a little bit (along with other people there for planning sessions. I gotta say, one of those girls was SCARY tacky, but I digress).

They schedule 4 hours for the planning session. We were done in two. Apparently most people don't walk in with everything in lists and spreadsheets the way I did, because they were very impressed with our level of organization.

We walked through our vision for "our day" from beginning to end in as great of detail as we could. Where are we staying, where are we getting ready, are we going to see each other before the ceremony? How are we getting there? How are the guests getting there? How is everyone getting to the reception? What order do things happen at the reception? Details about photography, etc. It was a lot of fun, and having done our research ahead of time really paid off. We breezed through the questions with answers to most of the questions.

Once that was done they brought out the "cake tray" with eight cake flavors and 10 filling flavors for us to try. Can I just say I want someone to bring me a "cake tray" every day. It was yummy! And mixing and matching the flavors was very fun. Here's what it looks like.

Next, the floral event planner who works with DFTW arrived, just as we were deciding on cakes. She was a real hoot, and I was kind of bummed that we really won't be working with her that much. We're just doing 6 boutonnieres and 3 corsages. The centerpieces we're using are non-floral and do double duty as centerpiece and wedding favor, so we didn't need any flowers for the tables. We're not getting flowers on the cake because we thought it looked too girly, and the Atlantic Dance Hall (where the reception is) doesn't need any additional decorations.

Up next: We're done early, how do we kill three hours before our menu tasting at the Boardwalk?

Feeling refreshed by a nap. We made our way the the Boardwalk resort for the menu tasting. After a bit of confusion on our part of where to meet our wedding planner, we were ushered into the kitchen of the Boardwalk convention center, where a banquet table was set for with three place settings and multiple napkins (so we could pick which napkin fold we wanted for the recepton.) We were introduced to the two young gentlemen who would be conducting our tasting. Their names were Jason and Damon, and I'm guessing that they're sous chefs at the Boardwalk, but I'm not sure if that's the case or not. It doesn't matter, they were very professional and extremely helpful throughout the tasting. (and kind of cute, to boot). We also met the Catering manager for the Boardwalk and were attended by Jan, who is one of the banquet servers. Truly, it was service fit for a king, or in our case, a couple of queens.

The first thing we tasted were the appetizers we'd chosen: A Maryland Style Crabcake with remolade sauce and a carmelized onion tartlet. They were both delicious, and I licked my fingers. I did manage to keep from licking the plate, however. I do have SOME manners. (And my mother was sitting next to me.)

Next we tried the salad of mixed greens with three different dressings: Lowfat Zinfandel Vinaigrette, Bacon Ranch, and Garlic Caesar. I'm going to have a really difficult time chosing one when we eat at our reception. Once again I was licking my fingers. No pictures of the dressings I'm afraid, but here's the salad:

Up next was the second salad: a tomato, cucumber, and red onion salad in an herb vinaigrette. It was also very tasty, but I'm running out of adjectives to describe how wonderful the food was.

Truly, it was service fit for a king, or in our case, a couple of queens.

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you just cracked me up on that one! Make sure you cover what they arrange for DJ services at the reception. I'm a mobile DJ and have thought about trying to get into their wedding DJ area when I move down there

We're having a buffet at the reception (that's all they do at the Atlantic Dance Hall), so we'd tried to create a menu that would appeal to a lot of people. We knew that we wanted a roast beef carving station with rolls, horsradish, herbed mayo, fancy mustard, etc. We also decided on tri-color cheese torellini, parmesan crusted chicken with a tomato sauce on either the pasta or the chicken, depending on how they tasted, and an alfredo or cream sauce on one as well. We figured that way we'd have a balance of flavors. One tomato sauce, and one cream sauce. Nice contrast. We'd make that decision at the tasting. Well at the tasting the chefs threw us a curve ball. Instead of having tortellini with one of two sauces, they offered us a pasta action station with the torellini in alfredo and penne in tomato sauce. For no additional cost. Score! We loved this idea.

Once we had both of the sauces allocated for pasta, though; we needed to figure out what kind of sauce we wanted for the chicken. (A chicken breast that was so delicious that it could be served without a sauce in my opinion. And very moist despite having spent time in the "hot box" in the kitchen) So they had us taste a mushroom cream sauce and a marinara sauce. In addition to that though, they spoke to us and offered to whip up a Limoncello Buer Blanc sauce. We said we'd give that a try. OH. MY. GOD. That sauce was amazing!

So here's what we tried. Peppercorn Beef Tenderloin Medallions (will be carved on the buffet), Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast shown here with the mushroom cream sauce and the marinara sauce, green beans sauteed with shallots and red peppers, and two different potatoes. The steamed new potatoes were good, but the roasted yukon gold tossed with olive oil and rosemary were delicious, so that's the one we chose.

Yeah. We chose the limoncello sauce. Sweet, light, and rich. We'll have it served on the side, so the chicken doesn't get soggy, but I may ask for a bowl of it and eat it like soup.

For dessert, we decided on a fresh fruit display to supplement the very tasty wedding cake.

And that was it. We'd had a great day, loads of fun, tasted lots of tasty food, and we planned "Our Big Fat Gay Disney Wedding"!

you just cracked me up on that one! Make sure you cover what they arrange for DJ services at the reception. I'm a mobile DJ and have thought about trying to get into their wedding DJ area when I move down there

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Glad to have made you laugh.

What we found out about the DJ is that Disney will assign one of their DJs to us and he'll contact us about 30 days before our reception to get our list of songs,etc.

you just cracked me up on that one! Make sure you cover what they arrange for DJ services at the reception. I'm a mobile DJ and have thought about trying to get into their wedding DJ area when I move down there

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Play, come on
Play that song
Play it all night long
Just turn it up and turn me on
Play, come on dj
Play that song
You that it turns me on
Just turn it up and turn me on

We don't typically let him eat "people food" so we don't bring leftovers home to him. Though that rule does tend to go out the window when Grandma and Papa are in town because my parents are determined to spoil our dog. (or the "Grandpuppy" as he is sometimes known)

ok I'm gonna get on a soap box for a moment. This is only an opinion, it is indeed your wedding, and Disney might do things differently in terms of interaction.

soapbox
As a mobile DJ, I do weddings nearly every weekend and it will be every weekend for the next 3 months solid as we are approaching the heavy wedding season. We do all the planning for setting up events and song requests. This is where I'm going to define what I am. I am not a DJ. A DJ sits behind a box and plays music with little to no microphone work or involvement with anybody except people asking for requests. I am an entertainer. As an entertainer, I get involved with the crowd. I organize the grand march, first dance, parents dance, garter removal(he dances for it to "I'm too sexy for my shirt") and toss, the boquet toss, and the dollar dance. I also do games like Find the bride, find the groom, and anything else asked of me. I invite people to the dance floor by playing a slow song, making them continue dancing, and then tricking them into beer barrel polka(It's WI, don't kill me)

At pretty much every show, I put on a full MJ thriller costume with wig and glove and do the entire Thriller. I'm working on learning how to teach it to a few participants. I also have silver metalic pants and a spandex shirt which work oh so perfectly with the YMCA. I lead the YMCA dance and guess where I got the dance from? Disney Cruise Line of course! It's my own personal homage to Disney at every show.

Sound like fun? I sure hope so! But there is one problem - when I first started a year ago, we would ask the bride ahead of time if "interactive" songs are ok. Interactive songs being the Chicken dance, hokey pokey, Cha Cha, Electric slide, and you guessed it, the YMCA.

We also had a section to indicate what you wanted from us. A jukebox, a moderate entertainer, or an outgoing one. People would circle outgoing, yet say no interactive songs. I'm an entertainer, not a stand up comedian. I need a little help, and people would alienate the crowd's ability to have fun by cutting out either one or a selection of interactive songs.

An entertainer uses these songs as a tool. No, you might not enjoy them, but grandma Betty might love them. We give everyone the opportunity to dance.
I came into the office one day complaining that the contract stated outgoing entertainer but no interactive songs(specifically no YMCA) I took the boring YMCA, pretty much copied Disney, threw on some outrageous clothes, and made my own "magical moment" for every crowd I interact with, yet this bride didn't even want the POSSIBILITY of such a thing happening.

As a result of my reasoning in the office, we no longer ask people if they want interactive songs. It's up to the entertainer to read the crowd and determine if it's a good idea or not.

So what is my point? My point is that by specifically saying "no chicken dance" you are alienating a portion of your crowd who might not dance the entire night, but would love to do the chicken dance. In a year I have easily done 50-75 weddings and I can tell you the most successful and fun receptions are the ones with the least amount of restrictions. At the very least, I urge you to consider telling the DJ/entertainer "I'd prefer not to do the chicken dance unless someone asks for it" At least that way you are leaving open the possibility. Also keep in mind it's Disney. If I took the way they do the YMCA on the cruise ship and twisted it, imagine what your DJ might have done with the chicken dance!

Again, this is not meant to be disrespectful. It's your reception, but I speak based on experience and a desire for the two of you and your crowd to have the best time possible.

Well, I had this beaded and bangled
mother in-law of the bride over-the-top Loehmann's
kaftan thing with a matching turbin - I was going to wear
to this little hullabaloo - but No chicken dance!
Can we do the Electric Slide?
The YMCA dance?

Officially cracking the seal on the Cherry Garcia here and getting teary-eyed. i luv the chicken dance and the YMCA dance and so on and so on. My daughter has flat told me that she is NOT getting married. EVER. (she's a Rocker Grrrl and that's just the way it is.) So no fun wedding/reception stuff for me.I am SO happy for you RPMDFW and more than a little jealous of your mom. It all looks wonderful, beautiful, and fabulous!!!! You are going to have an awesome wedding!!!!